Collaborations are a thing of beauty. This month, Grand Opening and Our Goods have teamed up and formed Trade School, a month long experiment that offers classes in a variety of subjects including Business School for Artists, How to Make Butter, Intro to Participatory Learning & Action, Grantwriting and a number of other fascinating topics. Trade School omits the dollar system and operates solely on barter. Teachers are compensated in work space and students pay for class by bringing goods to trade. I signed up for "PLAY: Improv for Ideation," a class that teaches a series of interactive ideation and process exercises aimed at informing and enhancing the creative practice. In exchange, the teachers, the duo behind MakerHappener, have asked for any of the following:

Some of you may remember this post I did a while back with the amazing photos that The Selby took as part of the advertising campaign for Cole, Rodd and Haan. Well folks, he has gone and done it again. This time, The Selby takes us on a beautiful tour of one of my all time favorite chocolate houses, Mast Brothers Chocolate. Rick and Michael Mast are the handsome duo behind these delicious chocolates that are handmade in Brooklyn . These boys are true artisans and are one of the few "bean-to-bar" chocolatiers, which means they own the entire process of making their chocolate from sourcing the cocoa beans from Venezuela, Ecuador and Madagascar to roasting, grinding, molding and eventually packaging it all up. The Selby does a wonderful job of illustrating the whole process from start to finish, so please check out the whole series here.

Not only is this some seriously delicious chocolate (my favorite is the Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt), but every bar comes beautifully packaged in Italian wrapping paper; it's like unwrapping a gift each time.

Conan O'Brien released the following statement with regards to whether or not he would accept NBC’s proposal to move his show to 12:05 following Jay Leno.

People of Earth:

In the last few days, I've been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that no one should waste a second feeling sorry for me. For 17 years, I've been getting paid to do what I love most and, in a world with real problems, I've been absurdly lucky. That said, I've been suddenly put in a very public predicament and my bosses are demanding an immediate decision.

Six years ago, I signed a contract with NBC to take over The Tonight Show in June of 2009. Like a lot of us, I grew up watching Johnny Carson every night and the chance to one day sit in that chair has meant everything to me. I worked long and hard to get that opportunity, passed up far more lucrative offers, and since 2004 I have spent literally hundreds of hours thinking of ways to extend the franchise long into the future. It was my mistaken belief that, like my predecessor, I would have the benefit of some time and, just as important, some degree of ratings support from the prime-time schedule. Building a lasting audience at 11:30 is impossible without both.

But sadly, we were never given that chance. After only seven months, with my Tonight Show in its infancy, NBC has decided to react to their terrible difficulties in prime-time by making a change in their long-established late night schedule.

Last Thursday, NBC executives told me they intended to move the Tonight Show to 12:05 to accommodate the Jay Leno Show at 11:35. For 60 years the Tonight Show has aired immediately following the late local news. I sincerely believe that delaying the Tonight Show into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting. The Tonight Show at 12:05 simply isn't the Tonight Show. Also, if I accept this move I will be knocking the Late Night show, which I inherited from David Letterman and passed on to Jimmy Fallon, out of its long-held time slot. That would hurt the other NBC franchise that I love, and it would be unfair to Jimmy.

So it has come to this: I cannot express in words how much I enjoy hosting this program and what an enormous personal disappointment it is for me to consider losing it. My staff and I have worked unbelievably hard and we are very proud of our contribution to the legacy of The Tonight Show. But I cannot participate in what I honestly believe is its destruction. Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet a time slot doesn't matter. But with the Tonight Show, I believe nothing could matter more.

There has been speculation about my going to another network but, to set the record straight, I currently have no other offer and honestly have no idea what happens next. My hope is that NBC and I can resolve this quickly so that my staff, crew, and I can do a show we can be proud of, for a company that values our work.

Have a great day and, for the record, I am truly sorry about my hair; it's always been that way.

The NYTimes has a great story about the gaining popularity of Bento Boxes. One of the bento creators they feature is "Bentomom" who posts the photos of the bentos she makes for her kids on Flickr. Her attention to detail is amazing and so cute. You can see more of her clever creations here and the full NYTimes here.

This set of glasses consisting of a butterfly, spider and spider web are simply beautiful individually or as a prey vs. predator scenario. They were created by design group Propoganda, which was established in 1994 by of group of advertising executives who set out to instill the innate sense of Thai playfulness into every day products.

While searching for a cake recipe for a recent dinner party, I came across Smitten Kitchen. A blog that deliciously documents a woman's mission to create simple, unpretentious comfort food in her 42 square foot nyc kitchen. Her recipes are straightforward and the photography on her site is bold and beautiful. I’ve been eyeing her arugula, potato and green bean salad and her lemony zucchini goat cheese pizza. Sounds like a perfect summer dinner on a hot day like today.

My dear friend Bryn over at paper tastebuds did a lovely post about Diana Yen and Lisel Arroyo, the masterminds behind The Jewels of NY, a blog that beautifully intersects their talents in cooking, photography, design and just overall gorgeousness. Included with the photographs are recipes for those who want to try and create their magic. Here you can find the recipe for the Chocolate Pots de Crème with Rosemary Whipped Cream pictured above and below is the recipe for the beautiful Flatbread. Enjoy!

In a small bowl stir together yeast and warm water, let stand for about 5 minutes.

Beat together egg, 1 tablespoon of oil and salt, set aside. In a medium bowl, add in 1 1/2 cups of flour and create a well in the center of the flour. Add yeast mixture into the well then add the egg mixture. Using a fork or your hands combine mixture until dough forms. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead until stickiness is gone and feels smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary. Add 1 tablespoon of oil into a bowl, place dough in oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

In a large skillet over moderate heat melt butter then add in the fennel, salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir occasionally until tender and golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375°F

On a floured surface, knead the dough and roll out to a 1/4 inch thickness. Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin and unroll it over a 19-by 10-inch rectangle cast iron skillet. Brush dough with remaining olive oil then evenly distribute garlic paste, cheese, caramelized fennel, tomatoes, lemon zest, lemon juice and fennel fronds. Bake flatbread for 35 minutes until crust is golden brown. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and serve warm.

Happy Valentine's day! I'm so grateful and excited to be here in NYC with you celebrating our love. We have had so many amazing experiences and collecting all of these photos reminded me how lucky we are to be together. I love you so much and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you.